@JadeKitsune You're about to send the thread into a rage by mentioning Turning Red. For as much as people like imaginative films about space wizards, talking kitties and half spider/half men heroes there's a few people who can't imagine a film about a girl being good.
After assassinating the son of a powerful US oil tycoon, the world's best hitman (the titular Golgo 13) finds himself in the crosshairs of the CIA, FBI, & Pentagon.
Narratively it plays things entirely straight, without even the slightest quip to lighten the mood. The action is instead broken up by frequently occurring sex scenes (of which at least one is an on screen rape, so be aware of that). It manages to stay interesting throughout though, as he still chooses to take on other jobs while being tailed, and there are one or two interesting twists & developments.
Animation is a bit of a mixed bag. It generally looks good (and there are a few standout shots, like a psychedelic shot where his speeding car is reflecting the neon lit environment), though it also looks rough in spots, and there's this hilariously bad looking shot where these ancient CG helicopters are after him (there is absolutely no effort to blend it into the art direction, in fact they probably didn't even have the tech to try & do that). At first I thought a character was looking at a computer screen "battle plan" or something (the helicopters were first shown flying through an equally CG cityscape), until I realized it was all supposed to be "real life" (I assume it was a big deal at time of release though, as the Japanese theatrical trailer included in the Blu-Ray put a lot of emphasis on the handful of CG elements, calling it the first "computer anime"). Back to the good though, it absolutely nails the vileness of it's villains (especially an assassin called snake who'll make your skin crawl), and is a bloodthirsty 80's anime film in the best way.
Kunoichi Lady Ninja (Blu-Ray)
Evil feudal lord sends his evil magical henchmen to kill a bunch of nuns, the survivors are actually a bunch of ninja, and with the help of historical samurai Jyubei Yagyu they seek out their revenge. In all honesty I found it hard to follow (and hard to care about following) the more specific narrative threads though.
Very much a low budget b-movie through and through, with laughibly bad special effects & cheesy costuming, and while this isn't inherently a bad thing (sprinkler system blood sprays being a good time & who wouldn't love the "Nipple Shockwave", an actual attack), here things often times seem very hard to follow. This isn't at all helped by the fact that while it's billed as being presented in 1080p, it seems like they tried to directly upscale it from a freakin' VHS and it often just doesn't look good on a large modern HD TV (I normally wouldn't blame the movie itself for resolution woes, but there is a note at the start of the film, as well as on the back of the box, that says "due to limitations of the original source this is the best upscale available", which I assume means it was filmed on tape originally and thus can't be any better than this, making it an inherent part of watching it).
Robot Carnival (4K UHD Blu-Ray)
Anthology film of robotic themed animations.
Like any anthology project there are one or two weak link segments (I'd say "Deprive" fits that bill here), but even those I'd say are still enjoyable. Otherwise it's absolutely fantastic, with vibes that range from fun & wonderous ("Star Light Angel", "the Mechanized Culture of the Meiji Era: Western Invasion") to the artful & deep ("the Cloud" & "Presence", the latter of which is absolutely stunning in terms of animation quality which is high praise indeed given the high bar the whole project in general achieves).
Really something you have to see for yourself.
Zeiram (Blu-Ray)
After watching the anime and then hearing that this live action adaptation centers around two electricians from real world Tokyo who go into a "virtual world where they meet Iria fighting Zeiram" I was convinced it was going to suck (like the world of the anime only exists as a video game or some such nonsense).
However the setup actually makes a lot more sense in practice. The world(s) of the anime is real, it's just that the "humans" from the anime (like Iria) aren't actually from Earth, and are in fact aliens themselves. With reports that Zeiram is headed to Earth, Iria arrives in advance and sets up a trap (a pocket dimension containing an exact copy of the area of Tokyo it's going to land in, sans populace, that way she can battle it uninhibited). Of course, her abandoned warehouse hideout is using up more electricity than it normally would thanks to all her high tech gizmos, and in checking out the discrepancy, the two electricians (Kamiya & Teppei?) accidentally follow her into the pocket dimension battle zone.
The movie itself is very fun too. There are a handful of wonky special effects, but by and large Zeiram itself is a wonder of practical effects making, believably recreating many of it's anime abilities (such as the creepy snake like tiny face that extends from the top of it's head), and exhibiting a number of effective transformations that'll completely gross you out. All in all it's a great sci-fi themed horror flick as our protagonists struggle to survive against a nearly indestructible monster.
Earth Girls Are Easy (Blu-Ray)
I see Jim Carrey & Jeff Goldblum (+ Damon Wayans) starring in an alien comedy I've never heard of before, so I decided to give it a chance. The general premise is that the trio of horny aliens crash lands in recently heartbroken Valerie's (Geena Davis) pool while watching her sunbathe from space, and she tries to teach them about life on Earth (and love, once Goldblum's character gets a hot human makeover) while they wait to repair their ship.
It perhaps spends a bit too much time at the start setting up that Valerie's doctor fiance is a bit of a horse's rear, but the entire segment detailing the trio's crash landing & exploring Valerie's home learning the basics of life on Earth is absolutely hilarious (also the wet bikini top she's wearing the entire time that clearly doesn't cover anything is a plus). Once they take on their more human appearances and it becomes a quirky romcom between Davis & Goldblum it doesn't hit those highs again, but it has it's moments.
Also a musical in spots. These segments can be fun, but aren't always relevant to the core plot (like the random song about how great it is to be a blonde, when they go to the beach).
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I've been finding the war between The Rock and Warner Bros funny so I gave Black Adam a watch, it's very meh.
What’s really annoying about it is it feels like they wanted to make a different film about a history of oppression, slavery and wanting retribution but getting lost in a rage (which sounds interesting) however it was not allowed as it’s a kids movie so it was put on the back burner in favour of a thrust of you can't be a hero and kill people which seems silly since they all kill people anyway. Batman shoots people with guns despite in concept he hates guns due to taking away his family, Green Arrow on the CW teen show is a serial killer with his own to kill list, Venom eats people plus Captain America, Iron Man, Superman etc doing all of this killing malarkey too.
The Justice Society was a massive waste since they main purpose is try to kill Black Adam before he kills as killing is wrong only to then tell him maybe it’s okay to kill at the end. They are a bigger property than Shazam’s bad guy even if he’s played by The Rock.
@Rambler I misread that and thought Michael Haneke had died then but on the plus side I'm relieved to find out he's alive still instead!
I dunno, I kinda like lists as a way to kick start conversation and debates. It's better when it's a top ten (or whatever) but not ranked so it shows quality without making them compete.
I'm gonna say Amore is my favourite from the bunch but I'm a poser and have seen less than half of them. I saw it last month as part of a double bill on Valentine's Day with Gone Girl, if those two movies don't put someone in the mood for loving I don't know what will!
@Rambler I've seen Amore, Hidden, Funny Games and The Piano Teacher. I remember watching The Piano Teacher thinking it was a different film so I was expecting someone to be a Nazi in it, I think I had blended in my head The Reader, The Pianist and The Piano Teacher to make something else.
The White Ribbon has been on my to watch list for awhile so this may kick me into actually watching it.
I have had a similar experience of learning to speak different languages through the power of film and tv. Despite myself being a mix of different nationalities and have several family members fluent in various languages I'm terrible at picking up the lingo apart from Klingon through watching too much Star Trek which is a sad statement of being more interest in made up silliness than actual culture outside in the real world.
Couldn’t sleep so I’ve watched a couple of flicks I've seen before so if I do fall asleep I wouldn't miss anything.
Gravity, this was the first time I’ve seen it since I saw it in the cinema in 3D and it does lose some spectacle in 2D but not nearly as much as I thought it would. It just wonderfully smacks you over the head with wonder and terror in equal measure. There’s some rather lovely arty farty symbolism I missed the first time round like the shot of Sandra Bullock in the space station is like the womb, the trauma of losing her kid is the disconnect from life/earth etc. Best thing about it is the movie 90 mins which is becoming so rare, like I'm refusing to watch The Irishman until Martin Scorsese releases the non-indulgence less than 3 hours cut!
Dredd, I got thinking about 3D films on 2D screens and Dredd was the first one that came to mind as there’s some stunning sequences that look so awkward in 2D but it doesn’t stop how so fudging good this movie is, just relentless gritty crowd pleasing action fun. I loved the deadpan humour (which seems to get missed by Americans who start applauding the fascist cop system lol ), the world feels alive and this is just a normal day which is something that is lacking in most comic book movies as they all try to turn everything upto 11 and the core three actors of Karl Urban, Lena Headey and Olivia Thirlby are all great. I'm still sad there's no sequel as they had planned to go with some of the madder stuff from the comics next. Also I’ve got a mate who worked on it who gave me one of Judge Dredd’s police badges.
Rather annoyingly this has made me wish the 3D fad would come back so I can rewatch the handful of films that used 3D really well. The independent cinema which would show these types of films don’t have 3D projectors and the big chain cinema wouldn’t bother showing them.
@Colonel_Mustache Yeah, pretty much. Her and George Clooney muck about in space until it all goes wrong. It's a lovely looking movie so if you do watch try to watch it on the biggest screen possible, it's not a movie to watch on your phone.
I’m gutted that I won’t be able to see John Wick: Chapter 4 until April 20, which is when the movie releases here. But it is what it is, so I’ll just have to catch up with the rest of them in that time.
Anyone seen The Banshees of Inisherin by the way? One of my films of 2022 for sure, it was such a subterfugal, uneasy yet bafflingly hilarious experience that left me completely dumbfounded by the end.
@Link-Hero I love John wick, and I feel like anyone who has watched that movie, has to agree with what you said, your not even lying, i personally love how they do the kills, even if simple, I enjoy it. But i legit can’t even act like anything you said wasn’t true, I mean, it’s all true, lol. Pretty much what I’m trying to say as a John wick lover, I agree with you.
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